This invention is related to vehicles, and more particularly to a balance system for a motorcycle vehicle, as well as to a motorcycle vehicle employing the balance system.
Conventional automobiles are two persons wide, and depend upon their track width for stability. A single-person wide automobile would be smaller and lighter, and therefore more efficient, but is too narrow at the same height, and is unstable cornering at speed. Motorcycles are efficient single-person width vehicles that achieve cornering stability by leaning. However, motorcycles also tend to be less safe, especially in crash situations, than their automobile counterparts. To make a motorcycle as comfortable and as safe as an automobile requires that it be enclosed, which then means that the operator can no longer use their legs to balance and support the vehicle when slowing and stopping.
Previous attempts to solve this problem have often relied on simple suspended outrigger wheels, or complicated balance control or suspension systems that allow three wheeled vehicles to lean and behave like two wheeled vehicles. Simple outrigger wheels do not behave well enough to be successful, particularly on uneven ground, and complicated systems are expensive, unreliable, and may present control difficulties while the vehicle is moving at higher speeds.
The balance system described herein is a relatively simple, direct mechanical system, that allows for easy, intuitive control of the balance struts. The operator controls the vehicle""s dynamic balance while moving, and also controls the vehicle""s static balance while stopping and starting. The operator also provides the motive force used to operate this static balance system, and therefore the force feedback is immediate and direct.
Since the balance system is retracted at all but the slowest speeds, the vehicle described here will perform at normal operating speeds as would a conventional motorcycle. Therefore, since conventional motorcycle dynamic behavior is well understood, it will be assumed that use of the vehicle described herein at normal traffic speeds will be understood.
Thus, according to one aspect, the invention provides a system for supporting a fore-and-aft wheeled vehicle in a generally upright stationary position, comprising a pair of laterally extending support legs independently moveable between a raised retracted position permitting normal motion of said vehicle and a lowered ground-engaging position, an operating lever responsive to user input to generate separate control inputs for displacing said respective support legs so as to permit independent movement thereof, and actuator mechanisms responsive to said respective control inputs for displacing said support legs between said ground-engaging and retracted positions in response to user input.
There are many advantages in using the fore-and-aft wheeled vehicle and balance system disclosed herein. The system is easy and intuitive to use, and provides as smooth a transition from dynamic motorcycle balance to static balance as possible. Unlike standard motorcycles where static balancing is typically achieved by deliberately tipping the bike to one side, onto one leg of the operator, with this system the vehicle can remain in a state of perfect upright balance. Perfect upright balance, or xe2x80x9ctip-toexe2x80x9d balance results in almost all of the vehicle""s weight being carried on the tires, and very little weight being held by the balancing support legs. This is a benefit in reducing the demands being asked of the support legs and the operator, who is providing the balancing force. Once xe2x80x9ctip-toexe2x80x9d balance is achieved, it takes little effort to maintain it. Starting off is then a simple matter of opening the throttle, and then retracting the support legs. From a state of perfect xe2x80x9ctip-toexe2x80x9d balance the vehicle will move away smoothly and directly, without initial wobble caused by raising the bike incorrectly from its leaned-over static state.
Other aspects and advantages of embodiments of the invention will be readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon a review of the following description.